Hi, everybody! I'm back! And with another chapter! Yays! (evil grin) Dress-shopping time... Well, anyway, we have to legal stuff to get to before you read. And our disclaimer today will be...Mario!
Mario: UM owns nothing besides the fic itself, okay? (whispers) Help, she blackmailed me!
Me: Mario! Quiet, or that thing I told you about might leak out, hmm?
Mario: (wide-eyed) Y-yes, ma'am!
Me: Thank you. Read, please!
"So, if we program this exactly the right way, we should be able to successfully spy on the girls and listen in on their conversations, without giving ourselves away, and...Meta Knight, are you even listening to me?"
"What? Were you talking to me?" Meta Knight looked up to see one aggravated bird, glaring at him.
"No, I was talking to the wall," Falco said sarcastically. "Of course I was talking to you! Now get over here and help me with this thing!" Meta sighed. Falco went through a complete personality change when it came to technology.
"Falco, what's the point of this anyway? Why are we trying to spy on the girls again?" he asked, walking up and looking at the tiny camera that Falco was working on. The bird looked over at him.
"Well, number one, spying on the girls is always fun. I'm sure one of them has a crush on me," he said. Meta was about to point out that every girl in Smash Mansion had a date, but he decided against it. "And, number two," Falco continued, "you need to do something to get you out of your weird trance-thing."
"'Weird trance-thing'? What 'weird trance-thing'?" asked Meta Knight.
"This strange funk you've been in ever since yesterday! You've been in, like, your own little world! And trust me, I know little worlds very well." Falco pulled safety goggles over his eyes. "Move back, unless you want your mask burnt off," he muttered, holding up his blowtorch and cementing a small attachment to the camera. "This thing here will be able to cloak the camera effectively, after I program the microchip. To do that, we're going to need to use, maybe a size-two programmer, since the chip is so small, but we'd need to boost the power to a level of..."
Meta had stopped listening a while ago. Usually, when Falco talked technology, it was best to do that before your brain exploded. Sometimes, even though techno-Falco was a bit saner, Meta preferred the regular one. Preferably if the regular one wasn't intent on "de-funkifying" him. But anyway, since Falco didn't look like he was going to stop talking any time soon, Meta Knight decided to let his mind wander.
Jigglypuff and most of the girls had gone out dress-shopping, so they wouldn't be back for a while. Jiggly said that she had just tagged along "to hopefully keep poor Samus sane," but she seemed really excited. Meta smiled just thinking about her. He had lost track of how many times she had thanked him that morning, although it was probably around half the number of times she had hugged him. The puffball was more ecstatic than after Kirby had asked her, impossible as it seemed. And this was three days until the ball. Meta was scared to see what she would be like the night before. It was only natural that he be scared, they shared a room.
But that was two days from now, nothing to worry about. Right now, Meta was more worried about the ball itself, now that he had roped himself into going. Strangely, he wasn't as nervous as he probably should have been about it. He couldn't dance, he had no idea what he was supposed to do...truth be told, he had acted rather spontaneously when he had asked. But, now that he thought about it, it probably wasn't as bad as he thought that it was going to be.
He heard faintly in the background, "Meta, hold this for me." Meta Knight took the small parts handed to him without even looking at Falco.
He was rather surprised, though, that he thought that way. It wasn't like he was pessimistic to a fault, but he didn't exactly have the brightest outlook on things. Maybe...maybe it was Jigglypuff's happy smile whenever she looked at him. Maybe it was the strange, warm, fuzzy feeling that he got every time he looked at her now... But, whatever it was, he knew one thing. For the first time in his life, he was actually looking forward to something.
Suddenly, there was a huge explosion right in front of Meta's face. He jumped. "What the—?"
"META KNIGHT!" Falco nearly screamed. "You let the positive touch the positive! You are definitely out of it! Jesu!" he muttered, taking the now-blackened parts from Meta Knight. The Star Warrior simply blinked.
Wait, what just happened?
Heavy footsteps and deep gasps for breath gave away exactly who was running up behind Mario. The plumber looked behind him to see his cousin Wario. "Wario, what's goin' on?"
"Mario, you alright?" asked Wario. Mario looked at him. It wasn't like Wario to ask people if they were alright. "You know, about Peach?"
Oh, it was that again. "For the last time," Mario muttered, "I'm fine." Wario shrugged.
"Just making sure," he said. "Hey, I'm requesting spaghetti for dinner tonight, okay? See yas!" With that, he walked away. Mario crossed his arms. This was really serious. If Wario was concerned enough to order Mario's favorite food for dinner, who knows what other people might do?
All last night, all this morning, it had been, "Mario, are you okay?" "Mario, you're alright, right?" "Hey, Mario, everything doin' okay?" He couldn't stand it anymore! Why did they care, anyway? Even Ganondorf had come up and asked him! (Ganondorf wasn't in the best of moods, himself.) And, every time, he had answered, "I'm fine, thank you."
He hated it. So Peach was going with Bowser. Alright then. Fine. He didn't care. What he did care about was how all of his friends were reacting. He and Peach had never actually been a couple. Mario had never considered them a couple. But, apparently, once you rescue someone a couple hundred times, you're expected to fall in love with them.
What a wonderful world we live in.
But the plumber had never felt anything for the princess. They were friends. Actually, Mario considered Peach as more of, like, an adopted little sister.
An adopted little sister who was about a foot taller than him, occasionally dreamed up evil schemes, and always told him when to stop eating (which was usually always), but an adopted little sister all the same.
But no one else seemed to think that way. They thought it was cute: a plumber and a princess, perfect! How adorable! How original! How blech! Mario sighed just thinking about it. He quickly stopped himself. He had to be careful about that sighing. People would think he was pining for Peach.
Mario decided he would head up to his room for a little bit. Quickly stopping by the kitchen to get a quick snack ("It's not comfort food!" he had told Luigi, who was standing by the cookie jar, ready to ask.), he walked down the hall towards the room that he shared with Sonic. Pit noticed him and walked over.
"Hi, Mario, what's up?" he asked. The plumber shrugged.
"Nothing much," he said, popping a cookie into his mouth. He offered one to Pit.
"Thanks," the angel said, taking the cookie. "Hey, you doing alright?" he asked, his mouth filled with chocolate chip. Mario's eye twitched. Him, too?
"I'm fine!" he said, loud enough for everyone to hear him. "I'm hunky-dory! Super swell! Nothing is wrong with me! I'm going to go to my room to read for a little while, and eat my cookies, because I'm hungry! Okay?" He spotted Bowser, who had just come out of his room to see what all the shouting was about. "Bowser, tell them that I'm fine!" he muttered, walking away to eat his cookies in peace. The Koopa blinked, clueless about whatever the heck had just happened.
"Um...he's fine?"
"Ooh, this one! Or maybe this one! ...no, definitely this one! Hmm...but that one looks really pretty, too..."
What was she doing here? She was Samus Aran, most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy, toughest of the tough! What was she doing in a dress shop? If she had to listen to Peach (ooh, this one, that one, this one!) any longer, she might as well explode. And it wasn't bad enough that she had to listen to Peach pick a dress, no, she had to pick one out herself! She flopped to the ground.
"I'm doomed," she muttered. Blaze, who had been looking at a few pale blue dresses, turned to her.
"Samus, come on, you're not going to die if you pick out a dress," she said. Samus crossed her arms.
"I don't wear dresses." Nana peeked out from behind the rack of dresses she had been going through.
"You wear nightgowns," she said, holding a bright pink dress in front of herself and looking in the mirror.
"THAT'S DIFFERENT!"
"Come on, Samus, lighten up!" called Zelda. "Have some fun for a change! Which one do you like better?" she asked. Samus looked at the two dresses in her hands.
"That one," she said, pointing to the strapless one on the left. Zelda looked at it, then put it back on the rack and held up the other one instead. "Besides, this is hardly my idea of fun," complained Samus.
"I've got it! This one!" cried Peach triumphantly. She held up a red dress with large white lilies on it. A sky blue ribbon tied in the back around the waist. "It's perfect!" she said. "And the red will match Bowser's eyes!"
"Wait, we have to match?" asked Krystal. She had already picked out a bluish-white floor-length skirt with ruffles and was searching for the perfect top.
"Krystal, you'll be fine with that. It's very pretty," Jigglypuff called from down the aisle. She had figured that wearing a dress might make movement for her extremely difficult, so she decided to pick out accessories instead. "Hey, what do you guys think, flower or bow?"
"FLOWER," they all answered at once.
"Okay then," said the balloon Pokémon, now faced with the choice of what color.
"I'm going to go try this on," Peach said. "Be right back!" She headed off in the direction of the dressing room. Midna looked up.
"Hey, I think I found my perfect dress, too," she said, showing them her find. It was a black strapless, and the bottom was decorated by white spirals.
"Pretty...," said Nana, and Zelda said, "Midna, that is so you."
"Thanks!" she said. "I think I might add a white ribbon to break up the two sections, but I have to see how it looks, first." She headed for the dressing room, too. Zelda sighed.
"Geez, how did those two find their dresses so fast?" she wondered aloud. "I can't even find one!"
"Zelda, you're having a better time than me," sighed Samus. Blaze raised an eyebrow.
"You haven't started looking," she pointed out. The bounty hunter made a don't remind me face and got up. Sighing, she turned to the dresses of her size, starting to search for one that looked slightly wearable, though she doubted that she would find one.
"Wow, Samus, you look like you're having the time of your life," muttered Krystal sarcastically.
"Hmph," was all that Samus said.
"Guys, look at this!" The group turned to look at Jigglypuff. Tucked behind her left ear was a deep purple iris. She twirled around happily. "Isn't it pretty?" she asked. They all nodded.
"I think it's beautiful," said Blaze.
"And it matches!" squeaked Peach, who had just gotten back from the dressing room. "I'm buying this!" she said as she held up the red dress.
"Alright then," Zelda said, "just wait for the rest of us to find one, okay?" She nodded happily.
"Got it!" she said. "I know! I'll help Samus find her dress!"
"NO!"
"Yep! Hey, how 'bout that one, that sparkly one? That one right there!" Samus was now completely sure that she was going to die.
"Lord help me," she muttered. Krystal suddenly cried out with joy. She had finally found a top that matched, a pale blue one that tied around the neck. Small rhinestone stars dotted it.
"Perfect!" she said, holding it and her skirt up. "I love it!" Blaze, who had decided that she wasn't going to go with pale colors and was now looking at the red dresses, smiled.
"Looks good," she said. She began to waver between a maroon-colored dress with black embroidery and a ruby red spaghetti strap that came down to just below her knees. "Hmm, which one would look better with high heels?" she asked herself.
"I'd go with that one," offered Zelda, pointing to the spaghetti strap. After much thought, Blaze left for the dressing room with the one the Hyrulian princess had suggested. Meanwhile, Samus had finally compromised with Peach.
"Fine, I'll get one with sparkles, but I get to choose the color, capice?" she said. Peach smiled and nodded.
"But I'll still make suggestions!" she said. "Like, how about that blue one? Or the red one? Or...?"
"Please, somebody shoot me now," Samus sighed. Zelda, Krystal, Nana, and Jigglypuff laughed, and Peach just looked at her.
"I think I'll get either this one or this one," said Zelda, holding up two blue dresses, one floor-length and the other coming down to about her ankles. "I'll go try them on." And then there were five.
"Hey, Samus, what do you think about pink?" asked Peach, looking at a pink sparkly dress. Samus's eye twitched.
"What do you think, Peach?" she muttered. Suddenly, they heard the click of high heels. Blaze, now outfitted in the spaghetti strap, ran up to them.
"Guys, we might have a problem!" she said. Nana looked at her.
"The dress is too tight?" she asked. Blaze narrowed her eyes.
"No," the cat said, "the dress is perfect. I'm buying it."
"Then what's the problem?" asked Krystal. Blaze sighed.
"Midna's zipper got stuck. She can't get out of the dress."
Meta Knight had just walked out of the cafeteria, done with his dinner, when he was nearly run over by something happy, pink, and hyperactive. Sound familiar?
"Hey, Meta Knight!" cried Jigglypuff, squeezing him tightly. Meta Knight, who had stiffened instinctively (most people do when something is about to hit them), now relaxed himself and hugged her back.
"Hi, Jigglypuff," he said. "How was shopping? Is Samus still alive?" Jiggly laughed, and, for the first time, Meta noticed that it sounded almost like chiming bells.
"Barely," she said, breaking away from him. "She found a dress, though. It's sparkly. And, despite what she thinks, it's gonna make Wolf go like this." She widened her eyes and dropped her jaw. Meta chuckled to himself. "And Midna got stuck in her dress because the zipper broke," she added, "but Krystal got her out. It was a good thing she had an escape kit in her back pocket."
"Sounds like you had a good time," he said. Jiggly nodded. "So, what did you get?" The balloon Pokémon stopped for a moment. A small, mischievous grin appeared on her face. For some reason, that grin sent chills down Meta's spine.
"It's a secret," she said. "You'll find out Saturday." Knowing Jigglypuff, Meta thought, it probably wouldn't stay a secret, but he decided to play along.
"Fine then," he said, pretending to sound disappointed. Jiggly laughed again.
"Oh, Meta Knight?" she asked. He looked at her. "Blue said she found some weird kind of camera thing in her room while we were out. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
Meta tried very hard to stifle back a laugh when he answered, "I have no idea." Jiggly looked at him, a bit suspicious, but she decided not to press it.
"Hey, I'm hungry," she said. "Do you want to have dinner with me, Meta?" She grabbed his hand as if she was answering for him, but she still looked back at him, green eyes gleaming. Meta felt that warm, fuzzy feeling starting to creep in again. He felt his face going red behind his mask.
"Sure," he said. Jiggly smiled happily and squeezed his hand, starting to walk into the cafeteria. The fuzzy feeling kept growing. Meta knew fully well that he had already eaten. But right now, dinner seemed like a nice idea.
Hope you liked it! Yes, I left you hanging on some of the dresses. Evil me.
Mario: You said it.
Me: Ah-ah-ah. Remember the thing?
Mario: What I said was, please review! UM will give you cookies!
Me: That's a good plumber. Ciao!
-Umbreon Mastah